1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a registration control for authenticating information in an information processing system, in which one or plural information processing apparatuses, a first authentication server and a second authentication server can communicate through a communication medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known a printing system capable of so-called “pull-print” operation, in which a user makes a request for printing from a printing apparatus to print data temporarily accumulated on a server, thereby outputting the print data from such printing apparatus. Thus, in case of a printing operation from an application, the user can obtain the output of the print data not from a specified printing apparatus but from a desired printing apparatus. See Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-99714, for example.
The printing procedure in a printing system is executed for example in the following manner.
When the user puts an IC card on an IC card reader connected to the printing apparatus, the IC card reader detects a UID (unique ID) of the IC card. Then the printing apparatus, in order to determine whether the user has the right to use, refers to an authentication table, stored in an authentication server and setting whether the log-in based on UID is possible or not, thereby executing an authentication process for the user.
Then, when the log-in is enabled as the result of the authentication process, the printing apparatus acquires the print data of the user, temporarily stored in the server, and executes the printing operation.
A manager, who executes management (maintenance) of the authentication table, executes a registration of UID in the authentication table or a deletion thereof from the authentication table, when a new user uses the printing apparatus or when a user no longer uses the printing apparatus.
In the prior technology described above, with an increase in the number of users utilizing the printing apparatus, the manager is required to more frequently execute registration and deletion of the authentication information such as UID in or from the authentication table, whereby the trouble of the manager increases in managing the authentication table.
Also in the prior technology, the user can register plural IC cards (authentication information such as UID) in the authentication table, and can therefore register not only the IC card of such user but also an IC card of another person. For this reason, the user may be able to print data of a person other than the user.
For example in a case that the IC card of a user A is registered in the authentication table while the IC card of another user B is not yet registered, the user A is capable of registering the user information of the user A, erroneously by the IC card of the user B, in the authentication table.
In such case, therefore, when the user B tries to print the print data by placing the IC card on the reader, as the print data is coupled with the registered user name, the user B is unable to obtain his print data while is capable of obtaining the print data of the user A, thereby resulting in a deteriorated security.